Lenox Select Board Adopts Green Burial at Mountain View Cemetery, Updates Permit Fees

LENOX — June 3, 2026 — Lenox Select Board unanimously adopts green burial at Mountain View Cemetery and moves meeting postings online. The board voted 4-0 on both measures at its June 3 regular meeting, capping a process that Board of Health Chair Diane Romeo said began in March 2024 with regional research and a formal board endorsement issued last March. Cemetery Superintendent Bill described a designated 36-plot section along the eastern tree line at Mountain View, expandable if demand grows, with flush markers and mowing once or twice a year; fees will match existing burial plot rates. Candace Curry of Green Burial Massachusetts told the board the number of Massachusetts municipalities offering green burial has grown from three in 2014 to roughly 50 today. The board also unanimously adopted a revised shared building department fee schedule, effective July 1, bringing Lenox's plumbing, gas, and electrical permit fees in line with four consortium partner towns after Building Commissioner Matt Colmer identified those categories as areas where "we've been leaving some money on the table."